Method and apparatus for installing a surface conforming drywall anchor

ABSTRACT

A wall anchor insert, and an installation tool and method to allow for the installation of a wall anchor flush to wall surface. The materials are a polymeric insert, and a moisturing curing adhesive resin. The installation tool facilitates the installation of anchor, including the required resin coating, and insures that anchor is flush. At such time that redecorating is done, there will be no unsightly anchor to remove or wall damage to repair. The anchor is left in place with only one small screw hole to spackle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to wall anchors, and more particularly toa method and an apparatus useful therewith for installing a wall mountedanchor flush with the adjacent wall surface.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Decorating one's home or place of business is an activity practiced withfrequent repetition as we each mature and progress. One consequence ofsuch progression is the residue and clutter of all sorts of wallscarring left by the previous abandoned fastener anchors, which onceserved well, but now are no longer needed.

One constant burden associated with all our re-decorating efforts is therepeated repair and refinishing of the walls, so that the old scars donot detract from our present effort.

One item that compounds the wall scarring problem are the current anchorstructures that are used to provide the robust interface between thefastener suspending a decorative item and the wall on which it hangs.Since the suspending location rarely coincides with the location of wallframing, this anchor usually takes the form of an insert threaded on itsexterior which is screwed into a hole made in the wall until an exteriorflange thereon bottoms out against the wall surface, thus expanding thelocal load bearing area and therefore the local bearing capacity of thewall.

Once this insert is fixed in the wall, a screw fastener is then driveninto its interior, deforming and/or separating the buried portionsthereof to fully engage the wall structure, and examples of such wallmounting anchors can be found in the teachings of U.S. Pat. Nos.5,190,425 to Wieder et al.; 5,791,845 to Fulop; 7,261,505 to Ernst etal; US published application 2010/0219307 by Ernst et al.; and manyothers.

While suitable for the purposes intended, each of the foregoing anchorstructures, and similar others, protrude beyond the wall surface inwhich they are mounted, and therefore need to be removed from theirfully imbedded capture, causing substantial wall damage that then needsextensive repair. A wall anchor material and process that would resultin flush to wall installation and thereby eliminate or reduce the needfor wall refinishing is desired. It is one such combination that isdescribed herein.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is the general purpose and object of the presentinvention to provide an anchor insert, an installation tool therefore,and a process for the use thereof that assure a wall mounting that isflush with the wall surface.

Further and additional objects of the invention shall become apparentupon the examination of the description that follows in conjunction withthe appended illustrations.

Briefly, these and other objects are accomplished within the presentinvention by providing a generally cylindrical wall anchoring polymericinsert extending at one end as a generally bull-nosed split tip, withthe other end forming a transverse annular end face. That annular endface, however, does not include a surrounding flange. Therefore thisinsert can be inserted to be flush to the wall structure, or wallboard.The installation tool assembly assures the above flush alignment of theinsert to the wall surface.

During the insert installation process, this insert will installed inthe drilled bore hole. The drilled bore hole and the polymeric anchorinsert will be coated with a specified liquid adhesive resin as part ofthe installation process. The adhesive resin will then encapsulate theinsert, and upon cure the insert will be permanently locked into wall.

More precisely, the inventive installation tool assembly includes ascrew that is first inserted through a plastic tube spacer segment andthen passed through the threaded opening in a generally rectangular,flat, limiting plate. The tool assembly screw is then screwed down untilthread lockup occurs between the limiting plate with spacer, and thehead of the screw.

To hold the insert for installation, the exposed threaded end ofinstallation tool is placed in the annular face of the insert and thehead of the installation screw is spun clockwise to wind on the insertuntil thread lock-up occurs between the insert face and the flatlimiting wall plate.

The required adhesive will be a low viscosity resin which rapidly curesin presence of moisture, and expands during cure cycle. Such an adhesiveis available from the Gorilla Glue Company, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Following is an insert installation procedure.

-   -   1. Drill hole in wall board using a standard bit    -   2. Moisten interior of bored hole using a wet cotton swab        (Q-Tip™)    -   3. Fill a small reservoir (1 cc) cup approximately ½ full with        specified resin.    -   4. Using a cotton swab (Q-Tip), rotate the swab in the resin cup        to coat the swab. Then rotate the swab slowly into the        pre-moistened bore hole to allow resin to transfer to bore        surface. Remove cotton swab from bore and again rotate the swab        in the cup resin to coat swab end. Holding the screw head end of        the insert assembly, rotate the resin cotton swab around the        ribbed section of insert.    -   5. Place the coated insert assembly into the pre-moistened bore        hole and with hand pressure press the install tool forward until        the wall plate is flush to wall surface.    -   6. Rotate the screw head of the insert assembly counter        clockwise a few turns until the assembly is loose from the        insert, and then remove, leaving insert in place.    -   7. If there is any excess resin on the wall board area, wipe        away with paper towel.    -   8. Allow resin minimum 45 minutes of cure time. Install desired        hanger attachment. The installed hanger will be flush to wall.        Note: Various methods for the resin coating and curing are        possible.

While the outward appearance of this new installed insert is similar tothat of prior-art wall fasteners, the are several significantdifferences.

The prior art fastener must have a wall flange to allow the insert screwto apply compressive force to draw the split tip wings of insert overthe back side of wall board to trap the insert.

Our new insert will be locked into position by the encapsulatingadhesive. The split tip of this new insert does not trap the insert. Thesplit tip, along with the ribs and pockets on the insert, all serve toaccumulate adhesive during the resin coating. That resin expands andforms a knot of adhesive resin around the ribbed tip section of insert.When that encapsulating resin cures, the insert is locked mechanicallyonto the backside of the wall board. The resin coating the bore holealso expands and locks onto the cylindrical section of the insert. Thatbore coating resin also works to repair damage done to the fragile wallboard by the hole drilling.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing processassures a flush insertion depth by the contact between the surroundingwall and the limiting plate. As this insert process locks the insert inposition, the insert can be used multiple times without coming loose inwall, and at such time as that particular attach location is no longerneeded, there is one small nail size hole to spackle and paint.

The exterior of insert can be an expediently coarse surface to enhancethe mechanical lock of adhesive resin on the insert.

Following a sufficient curing time period allowing the adhesive to setup, the insert is fully fixed within the wall by the now cured adhesive,inserted at a depth that is flush with the adjacent surfaces, therebyproviding a fully engaged liner that includes a properly fitted interioropening in which a hanger mount can be engaged.

Those devoted to decorating will then appreciate that once theusefulness of this wall-mount supporting insert has passed, noinordinate removal and repairing processes need to be engaged. The verylimited exposed screw attachment hole is easily filled and the wallintegrity is retained.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective illustration detail, in partial section, of aprior art wall anchor structure;

FIG. 2 is a perspective illustration, separated by parts, of theinventive wall anchor installation tool assembly, and inventive wallanchor insert.

FIG. 3 is a side view detail, in partial section, of the inventive wallanchor inserted by way of the inventive installation tool into a drilledbore hole.

FIG. 4 shows the wall anchor after installation and removal of theinstallation tool, and depicts the encapsulating resin that collectsaround the ribbed split tip section of the insert, thereby mechanicallylocking the insert onto the backside of wall board. Also, it depicts theadhesive resin in the bore area, that as it cures and expands will serveto stabilize the drilled surface of the bored hole and mechanically lockthe bore area onto the cylindrical portion of the insert.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT AND THE METHOD OF THE USETHEREOF

As shown in FIG. 1, the typical prior art polymeric wall anchorstructure AS is defined by a generally conical body CB extendingorthogonally from a circular flange CF at its wide end and ending at apointed free end that is split in the form of a split tip ST. A helicalthread HT extends on the conical exterior of body CB to end on the splittip ST so that once the split tip penetrates the exterior surface WS ofa wall board WB all further turning advances the conical body fully intothe wall board until the circular flange CF abuts the wall surface WS.In this inserted state the anchor structure is then permanently lockedinto the wall board by the receipt of a threaded hanger TH in aninterior bore IB which then spreads the split tip ST to fully engage theassembly in place within the wall board, the same interior boreincluding dimples or slots SL for any turning tool used.

While this anchoring structure has been quite successful in itsapplication, the protruding thickness of the flange CF persists once itsfunction is no longer needed. At that point the robust interlock of theexpanded anchor structure AS with the wall board WB invariably resultsin some surface damage to the wall surface in the course of itsextraction. Thus while quite useful and effective this, and similar,anchoring structures increase the work that needs to be expended in anyre-decorating effort.

To avoid the foregoing tedium and expense of renewing wall surface, Ihave devised an inventive anchoring structure, together with itsinstallation tooling and the process for the use thereof, which I nowdescribe by reference to FIGS. 2-4 in which a polymeric, generallycylindrical anchoring insert 11 defined by a roughened exterior surface14 extending between an upper annular face 16 and a generally bull-nosedsplit tip 17. The anchor insert 11 also has several slits 11 s to serveto accumulate the adhesive resin 11 a that will expand during cure tomechanically lock in the installed anchor.

Unlike the prior art described above, however, the annular face 16 doesnot form an insertion limiting flange, but does include an interioropening 18 that extends axially through the length of the anchoringinsert and into the split tip 17. It is this axial opening that is thenuseful to mount a hanger from which décor may be suspended once theanchoring structure is imbedded in the wall board WB. It is also thissame axial opening that is utilized by the inventive insertion tool 21to hold the insert anchor 11 during the resin coating process and thento facilitate the installation of the resin coated anchor into borehole, aligning the face of the insert flush to wall surface WS.

The initial step for this new wall insert procedure is to drillspecified bore hole in the wall board. Then using a moistened cottonswab (Q-Tip™) moisture is transferred to the surface area of the boredhole.

To effect the anchor installation sequence, an inventive installationtool assembly 21 is provided, comprising a screw 21 s conformed forthreaded advancement into the axial opening 18 having been first passedthrough a thin-walled polymeric tubular spacer 21 t, and then threadedtransversely through a flat, generally rectangular, plate 21 p untilspacer 21 t is in compression between screw head 21 h and plate 21 p. Tohold the insert for installation, the exposed threaded end ofinstallation tool 21 is placed in the annular hole 18 in face of insert16. The head of 21 s screw is spun clockwise to wind the insert 11 ontotool until thread lock-up occurs between the insert face and the flatlimiting wall plate 21 p.

The tool 21 then cleanly holds insert to facilitate resin coating ofribbed end of insert 11, and then enables the insert to be placed intobore hole 23 and with hand pressure pushed down until wall plate 21 pabuts wall surface WS, so that the insert face is flush to wall.

As previously mentioned, the bore hole and the ribbed end of the insertare coated with the adhesive resin 11 a just prior to the installation.Upon cure, this adhesive resin will provide mechanical lock between theinstalled insert and the wall. The resin 11 a that is coated on theribbed end of the insert, will form a knot encapsulation on ribbedportion of the insert that will lock the insert to the backside of thewall board. The adhesive resin coating in the bore hole will expand andcure to lock onto the cylindrical section of the insert and also serveto stabilize the wall board area around the drilled bore hole.

It will be appreciated that while the foregoing description refers to awall board wall structure, the foregoing method and inventive structureare equally useful in the many other modalities of current or past wallconstruction.

Thus a method and structure that is widely useful is provided thatconveniently avoids the onerous requirement entailed in the removal ofunused wall anchors to refinish the wall.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the instant invention canbe effected without departing from the spirit of the teachings herein.It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be determinedsolely by the claims appended hereto.

It is claimed:
 1. An apparatus having a drywall anchor and a tool for inserting the anchor into a drywall; the anchor comprising: an insert having a flush end and a tip end configured for insertion into a pre-drilled hole through a drywall wall board until the flush end is substantially flush with an exterior surface of the wall board and the tip end extends in midair beyond the interior of the wall board, the insert having a cylindrical configuration with a central axial bore extending the entire length of the insert; and a curable adhesive located in said pre-drilled hole for surrounding said anchor for locking said anchor in said hole upon curing; said tool having an elongated screw for threaded engagement with said anchor axial bore for inserting said anchor into said pre-drilled hole.
 2. The apparatus recited in claim 1 wherein said tool further comprises a flat plate and a tubular spacer, said elongated screw extending through said spacer and said plate as well as said anchor axial bore for limiting the insertion of said anchor into said pre-drilled hole until said anchor flush end is flush with said wall board exterior surface.
 3. An anchor for installation into a pre-drilled hole of a wall surface for anchoring a bolt receiving a hanging structure; the anchor comprising: an insert of circular cylindrical shape and having a flangeless flush end and a tip end and a central axial bore extending its entire length; and an adhesive for coating the interior surface of said pre-drilled hole and locking said insert into said pre-drilled hole with its tip end extending in midair beyond the interior of the wall board.
 4. The anchor recited in claim 3 further comprising an installation tool having an elongated screw for threaded engagement with said axial bore for extending the tip end of said insert into said pre-drilled hole until said flush end is substantially in the same plane as said wall surface.
 5. The anchor recited in claim 4 wherein said tool further comprises a flat plate and a tubular spacer, said elongated screw extending through said spacer and said plate as well as said anchor axial bore for limiting the insertion of said anchor into said pre-drilled hole until said anchor flush end is flush with said wall surface. 